Former Desmonds star and recently retired Kerry Group senior executive, Michael John Kearney will launch his two new businesses at the Castleisland Bank of Ireland Enterprise Town Expo on this Friday night, November 13th at 7.45pm. Tralee based media and communications expert, John Drummey will compère the event.
His first venture: MJK + Associates Business Consulting is a business consulting company. It will operate a unique model of providing business advisory and performance management enhancing services to the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, through an associated group of experts in various fields.
Kerry Consulting Group
In this consulting group, many of the associated members are former Kerry Group senior executives with whom Michael John has worked closely and successfully across the world. The Ballydesmond native has an experience span of over 35 years in Kerry based business interests across the globe.
The associates include: Finbarr O’Dricoll, Michael Wren, Pat Brosnan, John O’Brien and Padraic Coughlan.
The Kearney family’s financial expertise is also well represented in the associate list: Christy, the former Desmonds and Cork star, who is one of the Ireland’s leading lecturers in Technical Accounting matters and Marcus the Castleisland based accountant. Three other brothers act in advisory roles: Eamonn in hospitality efficiency; Seamus in retail management and Adrian in international business services.
Strong Communications Focus
The Kerry Group and Kearney influence is added to by the inclusion of one of Cork’s leading and upcoming accountancy, tax and advisory practices, McCarthy McSweeney Chartered Accountants; HR Suite the award winning Tralee HR business led by Caroline McEnery and the very well respected, Denis Kennedy in banking.
The business has a strong communications focused dimension attached with the inclusion of John Drummey, the highly regarded media and communications guru with marketing and social media expert, Caitriona Collins.
While all members are hands-on and actively business focussed in various interim roles, Finbarr O’Driscoll the former Kerry Ingredients and Flavours International Director chairs the business while Dick O’Sullivan also acts in an advisory capacity and specifically advises on sporting and events management.
Associated Experts
The objective is to bring ‘Big Company’ quality style of advice and performance management to SME’s locally. This model makes it possible to do so at a fraction of the cost at which it’s normally available to such businesses to-day.
All the associated experts can be individually and/or collectively engaged. This will directly cut out the unnecessary overheads and communication channels associated with larger advisory entities.
The second venture: MJK + Associates Careers is, as the name suggests, a career consulting company. It will operate on a similarly unique model to its sister company outlined above.
It will provide advisory and performance management enhancing services to the career sector in various fields.
Sustainable Career Path
The objective here is to bring to the career seeker informed and practical advice in areas like: performance and self-management ways of working to deliver on the career seeker’s aspirations in terms of skills and goals.
“This model makes it all possible. In fact we argue that such advice is not available generally. Its absence presents a huge gap in the knowledge available to the career seeker in his/her quest for a sustainable career path,” said Michael John Kearney. More information on the companies can be accessed on: www.mjkcareer.ie
Michael John Kearney is originally from Ballydesmond , Co. Cork, and now resides in Castleisland.
He has 38 years of management experience in Kerry Group Plc, the leading Global Food Ingredients and Flavour Company, in finance and management roles. He worked principally in business development, business finance, mergers, acquisitions, disposals, restructuring and integration.
He has worked in all continents of the world in that time while representing the Kerry Group organisation. Very often he was the first ‘Kerry man’ on site post acquisition. He has worked under allof Kerry’s chief executives to date, including: Denis Brosnan, Hugh Friel and Stan McCarthy in the course of his long serving Kerry Group career.
He is currently finance director of Biomass Heating Solutions Ltd. (BHSL) a West Limerick, world leading renewable energy engineering company – which is now in a round of fundraising.
Two other partners in MJK + Associates, Michael Wren and Pat Brosnan are also consultants to this company.
Other directors of BHSL include: Denis Brosnan, chairman; Padraig McManus, former ESB and now chairman of Eir – formerly Eircom and Fidelma Macken – a former Supreme Court justice, in Ireland and Europe.
Michael John is the holder of two All-Ireland senior football medals – a club medal with Castleisland Desmonds in 1985 and an All-Ireland Senior inter-firm medal in 1983 with Kerry Co-Op.
He was on the losing side in two other All Ireland senior finals – one with Castleisland Desmonds in 1986, and, at the age of 16, in 1971 with Colaiste Iosagain, Baile Mhuirne.
He has represented: Castleisland Desmonds; Ballydesmond; Araglin Desmonds; Duhallow; UCC; Kerins O’Rahillys; Castleisland District; Colaiste Iosagain and Kerry Co-Op in his footballing career.
Michael John is married to Betty and they have two children, Niamh and Eimear.
